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20 days now and no real thoughts about gambling.
It helps that I have been working on my new anti gambling book and made good progress over the past few days.
The only problem is that, whereas my earlier book was personal so had a logical end and was much easier to write becauase it was about my own experience, this is more general and requires much more research. It is changing all the time as I discover new stories, facts and figures. The main thing I have discovered about gambling addiction is that it is not getting any better, but continually worse.
The stuff I’m discovering is in fact endless!
Nevertheless hope to complete it well before Christmas.

I have a great feeling about change, right now. I feel like I can take this on. If I look back, the pain of gambling is everywhere. That needs to change. I need to change. Where do I start? I start with me.
No one can help you find the drive and the motivation you need in order to make this change, but on the flip side, no one can take that drive away from you. It’s all up to you, and that can be daunting, but it’s also exciting.
Think about it.
You can change your own life. You can end this misery. Change comes when we decide we no longer want to stay the same. We move beyond the place we find ourselves, and search for something better, something more.
It is usual to resist change, because it is easier to stay the same.
We might even put obstacles in our own way, excusing the way we are.
It is hard to give up. We focus on all the things we have to sacrifice, but if we are not willing to make this sacrifice for what is important, then in time, we sacrifice what really is important. Our happiness, our health, our families, our homes. All of it.
For what?
For something that has held us down for years? Gambling gives us nothing, yet we still allow it to hurt us, to control us.
Unlike gambling, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving up. I have promised not to bet anymore, but I would like to take one last gamble and bet on all of us.
I seen this great motivational poster, it said, “The best throw of the dice is when we have the sense to throw them away”.

Hi Ben – sorry to hear that. Are you gambling on line or in betting shops? I think you need to find a way to stop access to gambling. At the moment you are not are in control of your impulses, so you need to prevent yourself in any way you can from being able to gamble until you are able to gain a bit more self control. Sounds like you won’t have any money to gamble with until payday, so see this time as a time of positive change – if you are gambling online then block access to gambling sites, and self-exclude. If you are gambling in a shop you need to change your patterns – don’t let yourself go near the shop/s in question. I know this is not as easy as it sounds – but you are in the grip of a horrible addiction – so just like someone addicted to hard drugs, stopping is not going to be easy – you need to block your own access to the drug. Is there any one you can share your situation with? You can overcome this addiction, but you need to take it step by step. Count the days, find ways of distracting yourself – is there anything you find takes your mind off gambling? Keep posting and reaching out . See this as the most important battle you will ever fight in your life – it is literally a battle for your future. Try to see the future you want, gamble free – try to imagine how much better your life will be when you stop gambling for good – imagine a better future for yourself You deserve a better future than this Ben

Come on, Ben. Dig deep. I am so sad that you are in this situation and are obviously finding it hard to let go.
It reminds me very much of my own relapse and how difficult it is to draw a line.
But you must do this, Ben. You must lose all ideas of getting the money back. It rarely happens, and if it does, you know where it will end up eventually. This always ends the same, but for some reason, we seem to want to prove to ourselves, time and time again, that this is pointless. Why do we think we can win, when our past experience tells of so much heartache.
I know what it is like to lose every penny you have in the bank. I then went on to take out loans to fund my gambling. It has to stop somewhere. I once took out a loan and intended to pay off debt, but I lost the lot, as soon as it hit my account. I went on an absolute bender. I wanted to curl up and sleep forever and not wake up, but you know what. I did wake up. I woke up and decided I didn’t want this sh*t in my life anymore. I wanted out. So, I wouldn’t change it, because as bad as it was, I needed that lesson, Ben, but they are only good if we learn from them.
Sometimes, as hard as it is, we just have to prove ourselves stupid for doing this. It does us good, it’s where we get our anger and our determination to make us stop.
I wouldn’t stop until I ploughed through 3 grand once. I did this in several hours. Afterwards, I couldn’t even think how to turn off the computer. I couldn’t function at all. I literally sat there, staring at the £0.00 balance on my Coral account, pressing ‘refresh’, hoping for a miracle. My stomach felt like it was being crushed.
That loss made me so angry, I went 6 months after it without gambling. I can tell you now, that it is very likely that I would have lost so much more than that, in the long run, if I had got my money back.
I realised the hard way that I felt weirdly better after a big loss. Initially, I felt sick and distraught, but after a few days, I started to feel like I had something to prove, losing that money gave me a big kick up the ass, and I got so mad at myself (which is really important!!) that I swore not to do it again. Winning money messes with your head Ben, but losing it can make you wake up and start using it.

Great to hear this Jane. I feel I have made the transition – gambling no longer occupies my mind at all – I do understand why I got stuck in the CG pattern for such a long time, and now I don’t do it, I have a clearer understanding of the underlying issues for me – something to do with finding inner motivation …not sinking into depression ….I’m working on it still, some good days, some less good, but overall I am very pleased to say I have put this phase behind me. All the best

Me too, Kate. I feel like I have come a long way, too. I understand who I am, much more, and I don’t beat myself up when I feel down. I just accept that it’s perfectly normal to feel crappy some days and then it passes. I have also learned not to dwell on things, because this just reinforces the negative emotions and like I’ve said before, once you open up one bad memory, it fires up all the other negative thoughts in your head and they all start to go off. It’s called a negative memory network or something like that. I can be absolutely fine, then I start to think about something bad, and before I know it, everything bad is fighting for my attention and it is awful. My therapist told me that we can subconsciously do this as a coping strategy. Our minds focus on something that bothers us, so subconsciously, our brains start to drag up other negative feelings so that the one we are focusing on doesn’t seem so bad, by comparison! Kind of like replacing our problems with gambling, I suppose!

I’m really glad that you are doing so well, Kate. I can tell from your posts that you are feeling strong and confident enough to stand up for who and what you are about.
Good for you girl!
x

Don’t feel bad Andy, I lost £700 3 days ago had a bit of game but then I could not hit anything, £100 is nothing to not get a number on these f****** machines I did £2000 once without my section ever coming in £2000 that’s mathematically impossible I was doing £50 spins and I should have a winner on average every 6-8 spins but nothing, its obvious they are set to either pay out or f*** you completely.
I still believe we can stop and get ourselves out of this mess, just don’t go in the bookies and don’t take money or card when you go out. Its hard but its us that go in and play because we believe we can win some money and the devil whispers to go and play. Give it time and save, let it be the last £700 you lost.

Jane lets do challenge to never gamble again, I wouldn’t want to go till Christmas only to relapse and go back to day 1, I cannot do this anymore, groundhog day all over again, I cant keep throwing money away my physical job is killing me its hard work outside and dangerous I wanted to take it easy and do something else.

Count me in, Mat. I’ve had enough too. Hate the feeling more than the loss of money. It just messes me up so bad. Even the £25 I lost the other week, it was such a small amount, but I couldn’t take the loss, so I should not be gambling at all.

I think it’s time for a GA meeting. Went 2 weeks and gambled again today. I cannot keep doing this, haven’t got the finances, the stress is killing me, no one knows what I’m like, except me.
This forum isn’t helping either, need support, advice not this arguing. I’ve said about GA before, think it’s time for me to finally face up and go. Glad everyone is still going strong. All the best everyone

Day 3, Just got paid for 2 weeks almost the same as I lost, I guess it was work for nothing but I have to move on and treat it as it never happened. There is no getting that money through gambling, £17.000 lost from 2015 before that going back to 2008 I lost another £10k I estimate as I gambled way smaller stakes and was a student. Money lost, time wasted with plenty of stress.
Even though I still gambled I minimised my losses in past year and saved £15k, restricting access to money is what helped.
I will remind you all that this is a place for sharing stories and trying to maybe help not arguments so stop.

Did it again mat. Relapsed today, fobts. They are so rigged it’s unbelievable. £100 before I hit a number! Can you believe it, didn’t get in front once.
They should be banned, they won’t be. Bad bad mistake today, £700 gone in 30 minutes. Don’t know if I’ll ever stop.

Gutted for you, Andy. So sorry to hear that. Spent some time signing petitions for FOBT’s to be banned. I really despise them too, and I never ever use them. I just hate them for what they have done to so many people. There is a man a few streets from me, who I know loosely through family. He has lost his home through gambling. I hear news on the grapevine that his wife left him, and that he see’s his kids once a month, now the home is gone. I listen to their stories, and I just say, ‘oh that’s really awful’, but they have no idea that I have the same struggles. That’s the problem with gambling. It’s the secret killer. It doesn’t show on you until you hit rock bottom. It’s got to stop. People might think these machines will never be banned, and this may be so, but we have to keep fighting. I wrote to my local MP, we have got to keep pushing the issue and get it talked about in parliament. If we stamp our feet loud enough, someone has got to listen.

—-
Thanks Kate, for your lovely words. Glad you are okay. Going to have a piece of leftover birthday cake now!
Take care, everyone.

Thanks, Andy for your support, too. What I admire about you is that you don’t give up. You just face up to what has happened and address what you can do about it. If GA is the way to go for you, then go for it. It was too daunting for me, as I have social anxiety, so would probably have a melt down on the way! I would have to know exactly what to expect before I could even walk through the door.
Without online support, people like me would just have to cope alone. It took me years to see a therapist about past issues, and even now, it makes me feel really weird just being in there. So exposed and vulnerable.
It forces me to address things I don’t want to. I know that’s the point, but it’s added stress on top of gambling stress and every time I go, I get urges to gamble because it drags up memories.
I’ve promised my GP that I will keep going though, but I’m not convinced it’s helping.
I know it sounds weird, but I always got by before, by not showing what was bothering me. That way, I could push it aside, pretend it’s not an issue. Ignorance is bliss as they say.
But, when I started using gambling to self medicate, it all went to sh*t. It did not help whatsoever, it only made me even more isolated.
I started to realise that gambling was taking over and stupidly, I used it to take my mind off my real problems, because I was so took up with the stress of just getting through each day. That in itself became addictive. I could lose myself in the games for hours and it only felt like minutes.
Some people replace their problems with gambling, only for it to turn into a much bigger issue, more than they can handle. It’s really sad.
I really hope you find something that will work for you, Andy.
All the best.

Mat, I know you have lost money lately, but try not to look at it as work for nothing, because your work ethic is good and money for a job well done is much better than empty gambling money. A job well done, without money is still a job well done! At least you can feel good about yourself and your work. I once won £1,800, that’s more than I get in two months. I didn’t feel good. I felt like crap. I was not happy like you think you should be. I felt weird about it, I guess because you know it’s never going to stay yours.
If you can put this behind you, then you can look forward to a brighter future. No one wants to keep going through this. It is such a draining habit. It does literally suck the life out of people.

I really want all of us to start getting those numbers up now, and start to look like we mean business.
It’s time we kicked gambling in the ass. I’ve been on this site nearly a year and I am on day 22. That is not good enough for me. I want more.
Do the Christmas challenge, Mat. It is great to set your sights on something and just go for it and to do this together is much easier. Instead of just putting up with urges, or trying to bury them, get on this site and tell someone. Get support and encouragement to stay strong. Why wait till the damage is done? The best support is the kind that prevents relapse, it is much easier than consolation.
I can’t tell you how important it is to just talk out those urges. It really helps you to come to your senses and not gamble. Your words have stopped me from relapsing in the past. You responded to me, and made me see the stupidity in what I was going to do. Let us do the same for you, Mat.
Take care and stay strong.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even see the spelling error in the name “anomoynous”, and I would have thought the person on the receiving end of all that abuse, would be more concerned with all the name calling, than picking up on spelling mistakes like that.
Why does this poster get an apology off Joanne, at all? Why doesn’t he or she get slammed in the same way we did, for much less offensive posts?
Why?
Because Joanne wants to raise sympathy and the best way to do that when you are already painted the villain, is to be diplomatic in your response. To seem hurt, not aggressive in return.
When I was horribly blasted by Joanne, I saw the need to defend myself, because I knew she was wrong. I was angry, because it hurt. I didn’t feel empathy with the poster and try to reason with them as to why they said the things they said, that’s for sure!
A leopard can’t change its spots, Joanne. If this is not you posting, then you must have seriously took a chill pill, because this ‘person’ has gone at you like a bull out of a holding bay, and you have just reasoned with them!!!

Nice try, Joanne, but remember that prediction I saw coming. I told you that I would let you know if and when it plays out….well here it is.
I may be blonde, but I’m not dumb.

I know who wrote the post. It wasn’t the unkind words that hurt me as much as who wrote them. I care for the person who wrote the post hence I was more concerned about their welfare than my own. Joanne

I’m only going to say this one more time, it wasn’t me who wrote the posts.

So all that says is that you don’t care about us doesn’t it? We don’t get reasoned with, we don’t get understanding and consideration. We ask you to politely stop and you throw anything and everything at us. You went so far as to bring up Kate’s husband, Monica’s faith, my daughter, my past, talking about me being disrespectful to my partner because I chose to open up about the abuse that happened to me as a girl. AND STILL……I forgave you, put up a post to you, saying come on, let’s do the Christmas challenge. All you did was hit back at me about faking illness and depression! Are you even on the same planet as the rest of us?

You weren’t concerned for our welfare when you continued harassing people on this site. You weren’t concerned about ruining Kate’s holiday when you attacked her, knowing full well she was reading. You weren’t concerned enough to stop trolling, even though you ran other members away from their support. Yet you still insist you care about them? You have Loser’s email address, why not ask him how he is?

You weren’t concerned about me when I relapsed and threw away several thousand because I hated the way you made me feel.
You weren’t concerned for me, when I fainted because of your trolling last Christmas.
I forgave you time and time again, so did the others, and still you go on the attack.
You realise you have been trolling this site now for nearly a year. You have learned nothing. Achieved nothing. If you’ve attracted a troll yourself, too bad. That’s karma for you. However, I feel this is highly unlikely.
Why should we want to talk to you, anyway if you think it is one of us ‘regulars’. We have all already told you what we think about the way you behave.
Now we would just like to get on in life and put this nonsense to bed.
So step away from the laptop and find something else to do.
After all, you did say in one of your posts that you would have a lot of spare time on your hands since installing gamblock.
I see you have been using it well.

I realise that you don’t like being proved wrong. You and others instantly jumped to the conclusion that I was playing some crazy game of ‘trolling myself’ to seek attention. Despite twice saying it wasn’t me you continued to accuse me. I feel I had the right to defend myself although yet again I did it in a measured and polite manner. I shall not be saying anything further on the matter. I shall not be engaging in any further communication with you all after the torrid of abuse and accusations I have received over the past 6 days. Joanne

6 days? Me and Kate’s had this crap off you for nearly a year! People finally tell you to stop, and you decide to play the victim.
I’m often wrong, I learn by being wrong, but I was right about you.
I’m not interested in wasting any more time talking with you. Like Nik says, if we ignore you, you will go off and troll somewhere else or find a bridge to sit under.
I’ve had a sneaky feeling about a few things on this forum. I’m very in tune. Always have been. If things don’t settle soon, you leave me no choice but to trouble Rethink with this, and they are going to have to remove your insults / ‘help and advice’, one by one, which may take a lot of their precious time. You will then be responsible for slowing down the forum and spoiling our freedom to post in real time.
If you care about any of us, just leave us alone now.
There’s no coming back from this, Joanne / Isla / anomoynous

Accept it, on this matter you have got it WRONG. I post as Joanne and as you know Nik made a bet that I would return to the site . So in light-hearted humour I returned as Isla, however I did add the name Joanne so there was no mistaking it was me.

Please let it go, I shall not say it again, I have NOT been posting as ‘anomynous’. As you know there have been other new posters these past few days, Lewis, Stephen etc , please be reassured that I have NOT been posting under these names.

I think if you look at the facts Lewis, It was Jane who wouldn’t let the matter go and not me! I had the right to defend myself. It was me who kept saying , let the matter go, and it was her who kept going on about it. So the broken record wasn’t me! Joanne

Hi, is there a full moon? The forum has made its descent into lunacy. If it is Joanne, then I would question her sanity. If not then please stop. It isn’t funny. Day 21. No change in circumstances except stomach pain has eased off over past 24 hours.

Glad you to hear your stomach pain is easing slightly …… as I wrote on Saturday, this Forum is a bit of a Wild West at times, but essentially, most of the time populated by people who are in the same boat, struggling with gambling, and giving as well as looking for support. Hope the latest incident hasn’t put you off posting ! It would be a real shame. All the best

If this forum doesn’t get back on topic and a certain person doesn’t stop playing silly buggers with name changes and trying to wind up others I forecast it will either close down or die naturally as people start not bothering with it. I have seen it happen with other forums.
It’s obvious who anonymous is. It’s quite clear, despite repeated promises she is not going to stay away or to grow up, nor it appears will she be banned as she may well have been on other forums. The only alternative therefore is to ignore her and let’s get back to supporting each other.

Wow wow wow. I’m not sure Joanne can sink any lower? It’s obviously her as anonymous or whatever it’s called.
Not being funny, I come on here to try and take my mind off gambling, reading positive posts, not this shit. I’m out

No your not, you’re Loser. HE RAN A MILE AWAY FROM YOU HA! Simon is the moderator of Rethink. Have you been drinking? I AM NOT LOSER, I WILL MODERATE THIS FORUM IF YOU DISPLAY POOR INSULTING BEHAVIOUR.
p.s Have you been gambling again? I’m concerned about you. I may be a bitch or whatever else you’ve called me, (by the way I’m not a slut, NEVER CALLED YOU THAT, THERE YOU GO AGAIN WITH YOUR LIES, THOUGHT YOU WERE A HONEST PERSON please stop calling me that) but I’ll always care about you. YOU CARE FOR ONLY YOURSELFJoanne
Talk to me, Forget all about that crap you wrote yesterday calling me a bitch or whatever. YOU REALLY THINK I AM LOSER AND HE WOULD SPEAK TO YOU LIKE THAT? I THOUGHT LOSER WAS YOUR FRIEND? Everyone misses you on Rethink. Of course they blame me for you leaving. I BLAME YOU FOR HIM LEAVING TOO Anyway, I hope you’re okay. Like I said, I’ll always care about you. Joanne Okay it’s late, I’m logging off, Have a good day, Joanne
I’M GOBSMACKED YOU WOULD THINK I AM YOUR FRIEND LOSER, DOSN’T LOOK LIKE HE WILL RETURN AND WHY SHOULD HE, THIS FORUM IS A DISGRACE WITH YOU IN IT. YOUR A MIDDLE AGED WOMEN AND WE ALL HAVE TO TELL YOU WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR, I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO NOW.
AGREE JANE I AM LEAVING IF COO COO DOSN’T CHANGE NOW SHE NEVER WILL, SOD OFF JOANNE ALL YOU DO IS ADD DOOM AND GLOOM.
CARRY ON JANE

When I read your first post , my immediate thought was, is it someone I know in the real world who has identified me because of the detailed information I have given out about myself. I quickly ruled this out because most of the things you wrote about me were incorrect. I have lived in the same area of Scotland all my life and I do not have one single enemy.

It is obvious that you have an intense dislike of me so I feel I have the right to ask you why. Pease could you explain why you wrote ‘shut your legs …..’ . I took this as an insinuation that you thought I was a slut.

Perhaps you’re a random troll who for some reason has taken a disliking to me.

Joanne

p.s. On a light-hearted note, I’m fed up of cheese, you may have more luck if you put chocolate in the mouse-trap!

This is insane – read through the so-called ‘anonymous’ posts and Joannes’ replies – check out the spelling of anonymous ( anomoynous) in both cases, and I think we need to look no further for the identity of the VOICE OF GOD….seriously weird stuff. I hadn’t quite realized that this is a moderator free zone but I for one think it needs to be, at least until order is re-established. Either one of us agrees to play the role, with permission of the others, or we all stop posting until some safer boundaries are established. What do we all think? I have come across some strange shit in my time, but this is creeping me out.

Well, I don’t want anyone to be hurting, I don’t care who it is. If this is genuine, it is not nice at all.
However, I have a feeling and it is nothing more than that, this is Joanne’s way of wiggling her way back in to the forum. I think she knows she has gone too far, and alienated people, so she creates a situation whereby she is the victim. If she behaves maturely towards these awful comments, then she looks like a good person, and gains sympathy?
It doesn’t make sense to approach this person’s nasty posts with such maturity when the rest of us, particularly me and you, Kate, have been on the end of horrible posts just for asking her to be more responsible.
It seemed weird to me, that Joanne questioned the authenticity of some new posters. Why would someone do that, unless they thought about that themselves?
Just a thought. Hence the good cop, bad cop comment I made yesterday. After all, she started all this out with saying that she was very fond of us all…..setting the scene for what was to come. Way too much time on their hands.

I can see how it plays out. We let her back in, we trust her again, she goes on the attack….AGAIN.
I may be wrong, but my Inspector Gadget senses are all over the place!

Same here Jane – my BS alerts are saying it is Joanne posting as ‘anomoynous’ ….. my suspicions were alerted by the description of you and I as ‘Ladies’ yesterday – it was just too strange that after all this time, when, frankly, we were pretty much left to hang out to dry, a hero on a white charger comes along to rescue us, the damsels in distress …..I honestly don’t believe anyone would have made the horrible sexual comments made yesterday by ‘anomoynous’ without having a very good reason to do so …and I don’t think the reason is the obvious one – but I think it is incredibly sad, and disturbing, that if it is Joanne doing this, that she needs to go to such lengths to attract attention…… but I don’t work in a psychiatric unit, and Joanne is not my patient, and has been consistently nasty to me, so, I am afraid, I have limited sympathy ….it’s strangely fascinating, but the behaviour is just not healthy or conducive to recovery – which is supposed to be the point of this Forum. One good thing to come out of the experience of posting on this Forum, is that I am becoming stronger, if a bit more wary ……. not everyone is who they seem to be …..that’s OK, but it is best not to assume I am finding! I’m not going to stop posting, unless you are sick of hearing from me, but I think I will also try to find a face to face support group ….where you can look people in the eye, and where the intent of group members is clearer. All the best , Kate

”No mention or acknowledgement of me’ …………….. You told me to ‘shut my mouth’. I shall be as quiet as a mouse. I’m deeply hurt by your comments. Joanne

THERE IS A MOUSE TRAP OVER THERE WITH A BIT OF CHEESE, OFF YOU GO! I’M VERY GENEROUS AND GIVING, YOU GIVE HURT I GIVE IT BACK! IF YOU INSULT SOMEONE WHETHER YOU SUGAR COAT IT OR NOT I WILL BE BACK.
CONSIDER ME THE NEW MODERATOR OF “RETHINK”.

p.s Have you been gambling again? I’m concerned about you. I may be a bitch or whatever else you’ve called me, (by the way I’m not a slut, please stop calling me that) but I’ll always care about you. Joanne

Talk to me, Forget all about that crap you wrote yesterday calling me a bitch or whatever. Everyone misses you on Rethink. Of course they blame me for you leaving. Anyway, I hope you’re okay. Like I said, I’ll always care about you. Joanne

Joanne if you don’t want to interact with us then don’t why be here anyway, all you need is pen and paper so you can record your progress. You are playing the victim now, you have upset a lot of people not one not two but many, even your friend Loser left I don’t know if intentionally or you just don’t see it.
You put yourself so highly above everyone else like you are better and perfect, I too never lost everything and still have plenty of savings that doesn’t mean gambling didn’t cause me problems and stress.
Saying you ‘bloody enjoy gambling’ who are you fooling if you continue gambling you will lose everything, wake up you are on a forum with gambling addicts that have nowhere to turn for help and are desperate to stop.
Why would you argue with people that have already problems and bad life, like gambling didn’t hurt us enough. People tried to help you and why argue with them just because they have a different view on things
I criticize government in my fight because what they did is wrong they have countless of ruined lives on their hands and people killed themselves because of those evil FOBT machines and laws that are in favour of companies like Coral, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power and they target mostly young and vulnerable people.
Stop those negative comments and make peace with people, stop being selfish and think before you post.

Ben, how are you? Does day 1 mean you are still gambling, or that you have put it behind you and started to count your days again?
You are really bright and intelligent, Ben. Do something amazing for yourself and be free from all of this torment. A lot of people are willing you to do well but as you know, the most important person who needs to do that, is yourself. 80 odd days gamble free is such an achievement. Set your sights on that date in to the future and head straight for it, no looking back. Then, when you get there, let that push you onward into 2018. Look at that number, Ben, 2018, make that a good year for you, start now, and just keep going. We will all be going with you, so you are not alone. Let’s do this.

No one can stop you, except yourself.

Really wish you well, Ben. Keep posting. x____________

I’m really sad about the state of the forum of late. It is bothering me a lot. Bad feelings, negativity, it weighs me down.
Let’s get busy doing the important stuff. If a new person came to this site for support now, what on earth would they think? I know from experience, that compulsive gamblers are some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. How can these elusive people come forward and share their concerns in such a volatile environment?

The forum is not being moderated at the minute, I have already mentioned that. We are being trusted to come here and get support and in turn, support others.
I have spoken with admin after previous problems with abuse, months ago, and it is a small business, there are not enough staff to moderate the forum full time. It is left open for us to be responsible and show people that a bunch of compulsive gamblers can behave like decent human beings, and that we do not deserve the negative reputation that others might have of us.

It only takes two minutes on Twitter again, and the entire forum will revert back to being on a delay, while each and every comment is read and moderated and while admin are having to do that, they are not free to carry out all the good work that they do, in helping people fight this awful addiction.

Do we really need moderating? Come on, we are meant to be adults. Stop all this ugliness.

As you know NO WE DON’T ALL KNOW STOP ASSUMING ISNT THAT WHAT YOU WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT WITH JANE? I have had a lot of insults fired at me over the last few days from several posters. WHEN YOU INSULT PEOPLE FOR NO REASON THIS IS USUALLY THE OUTCOMEI have had to put up with Jane and Kate’s immature behaviour analysing me with their snide remarks knowing only to well that I would be able to read them. I DO NOT SEE THESE LADIES BEHAVING IMMATURE AT ALL I feel I have responded to those comments/immature behaviours in a mature and reasonable manner. YOU HAVE NO MANNER’S JOANNE As you know, I have asked that you do not mention my name in any of your posts again. AND WE HAVE ASKED YOU TO STOP CAUSING TROUBLE T.W.A.T I shall not communicate with any of you, MY EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT HOWEVER I DO NOT BELIVE YOU just quietly record my gamble-free days. DON’T BOTHER BUY A BOOK AND DO IT AT HOME I wish you all good health, happiness and prosperity and of course success in becoming gamble free. SURE YOU DO, YOUR SO TRANSPARENT, DO YOU REALLY THINK BY ENDING A POST LIKE THIS YOU JUSTIFY YOUR BEHAVIOUR? Joanne

STRAIGHT AGAIN TO ATTACK JANE AND KATE, NO MENTION OR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ME, WHY NOT? DON’T ENJOY GETTING A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE JOANNE? ONLY ATTACK THE WOMEN WHO BEHAVE LIKE LADIES? I KNOW YOU MUST HAVE SPAT YOUR TEA OUT JANE WHEN YOU READ THIS AND I KNOW EVERYONE HAD A GIGGLE IT’S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE DEALT WITH THIS BITCH!!!

As you know I have had a lot of insults fired at me over the last few days from several posters. I have had to put up with Jane and Kate’s immature behaviour analysing me with their snide remarks knowing only to well that I would be able to read them. I feel I have responded to those comments/immature behaviours in a mature and reasonable manner. As you know, I have asked that you do not mention my name in any of your posts again. I shall not communicate with any of you, just quietly record my gamble-free days. I wish you all good health, happiness and prosperity and of course success in becoming gamble free. Joanne